Can Photoshop 4, upgraded to 5, be installed on my Windows 7 64 bit OS ?

Question

I bought Photoshop 4, 16 or 17 years ago, and upgraded it to version 5 later on, and I never had trouble with this combo, on any other of my Windows controlled computers, but they were all 32 bit. I'm now in my early 60's, so another upgrade is no longer possible, but I have Photoshop CS2 and Imageready CS2, downloaded and installed. And up until now, that has been enough for my use. But this coming Friday, Feb 21, the woman I was married to passed away three years ago, and the last good photo, if it can be called that, was of her in a wheelchair in the hospital, less than 6 months before she passed on. Her skin on her arms and face, has some damage showing, as well as the trachea they gave her, to help her breathe. Thinking about it, I decided to try and remove all the skin defects, using Photoshop CS2, and I did..., except I also removed the lines of her jaw, nose and such, leaving her looking as bad without the flaws, as she looked with them. I researched it a little, and found some tips and tutorials, to BRUSH her flaws away instead of by using the magic wand and skin color, to paint over them. But it seems that what I was reading concerning the types of brushes there are and what I should use, I can't find inside CS2, so I tried to install Photoshop 4, but it came back with an error message, that this version, is not compatible with 64 bits, and said to ask the makers of the software, if there was a way to load it on the 64 bit version of Windows 7.
There are some suggestions I've found on how to bypass this problem and load it in the 64 bit machine, but I decided to reach out to Adobe,to see if there was a way to make this combo of Photoshop 4 and 5, work on my computer. Does anyone have any suggestions? Thank you in advance.
Paul

Answer 1

Noel,
I must admit, your reply at the start of your answer, seems a bit confusing
to me. Photoshop CS2 here in south Louisiana, is a FREE PROGRAM that
someone can download and install..., absolutely no cost to get it.
Photoshop 4 and other upgrades, are damn sure not free. Photoshop 4 ran me
a bit over $800, and upgrade 5 at almost $425. Now, maybe I am an OLDER
PERSON, and maybe being in my 60's, means I'm a bit POOR, but where do you
get this, " there's no allowance in the law that makes it okay for older or
poor people to use unlicensed software". I know what the term PIRACY
applies to, and I'm not aware that I suggested or asked for any type of
illegal answer to my question. Photoshop CS2 was not criticized by me
except if my saying it did not have ALL the tools inside it, that the full
version of Photoshop does, is being TOO CRITICAL? How does it make any
sense, to have a FREE VERSION OF PHOTOSHOP CS2 AVAILABLE, if it has ALL THE
ABILITY THE EXPENSIVE PHOTOSHOP VERSIONS HAVE? So, please don't say I need
not be offended because I DID NOT ALLUDE TO ANY ILLEGAL SOLUTIONS, to my
question.
If your answer is what I was supposed to get, asked to someone in the
Photoshop community, then Microsoft's Windows error pop-ups, should simply
be ignored. As I had said, there were suggestions I ran across, on how to
convert past Photoshop installs on 32 bit systems into working on 64 bit
OS. One way, was to download an installed version of Photoshop off an older
Windows OS that you may have, on a Flash USB, and then take it off the
Flash USB and NOT INSTALL, but MOVE the files into x86, again, not
installed. That would leave 6 or 7 missing .dll files, which can be gotten
online, put in the Photoshop files in x86, and according to those who were
discussing it, it works just fine. I have Windows XP on my last pc, and it
is still saved up, so I could have gone that route, or maybe even another.
I'm not a lawyer, nor am I an employee of Adobe, but since I already PAID
for Photoshop 4 and 5, I am not aware of STEALING ANYTHING, by taking an
installed older version, and trying to access it on my newer pc. I'm not a
software GEEK, but if Photoshop was made in 16 bit format, and can be used
in 32 bit, but not 64 bit, then about the only loser in this attempt, would
be Adobe, since I'm not planning on spending another small fortune, buying
a Photoshop version that actually works on 64 bits. Is doing this something
that makes me a thief? Being I've been on computers nearly 20 years now, I
have ran across previous software, that was compatible on BOTH 32 AND 64
BIT SYSTEMS. So that is a possibility, but again, I am NOT A SOFTWARE
PROGRAMMER or DESIGNER, so why this software from Adobe is not compatible
with 64 bit, there may be a reason, but if there was, I sure am not aware
of that. But what do I know, asking a logical question as it was suggested
I do, and getting this type of reply for my effort. And all this, just
because I was trying to clean up a photo my deceased wife took in the
hospital, a few months before she passed on and is now with God. Go
figure...
Paul